Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Blue Jersey:: The Failure of "Reform": Tenure

Blue Jersey:: The Failure of "Reform": Tenure:

The Failure of "Reform": Tenure

by: Jersey Jazzman

Wed Oct 26, 2011 at 09:00:00 AM EDT



The central issue in the upcoming education "reform" debate will certainly be tenure.

Under the Christie proposal, if a teacher gets one "ineffective" rating, she loses her tenure rights, and can't appeal the loss to anyone outside of her district. She can then be terminated immediately without cause.

50% of that "ineffective" rating is based solely on the teacher's evaluation by the principal or other supervisor - more than enough to cause even a stellar teacher to earn a poor rating if she rubs her supervisor the wrong way. In effect, administrators would have new, unprecedented abilities to remove a teacher at will.

This is a recipe for disaster.

Even more than teacher protection, tenure is taxpayer protection. It creates a firewall that helps to contain cronyism. The reports from the Star-Ledger about the rampant corruption and nepotism alleged in the Elizabeth school